Perfect occasion to get stuck in on all fronts

Six Nations Diary/Wales v Ireland :  We hadn't experienced defeat in a long while and everyone was bitterly disappointed after last week.

But standards have risen incredibly in this squad and it's important that everyone gives a good account of themselves today.

We had only a gym session on Monday and stayed off the pitch, but we had a great session on Tuesday, and we needed that. There have been only two sessions this week and then a captain's run yesterday. I think fellas have been itching for this game since Tuesday.

We probably need to up the aggression. The French dictated the game a little bit too much and it's important that we rectify that this weekend. I thought France were very good and I always knew they had the potential, especially out in the backs, but they also played extremely well up front.

It's very rare to see a performance like that against an Irish pack and credit must go to them, but it's certainly made us aware how big this game is.

Wales are clearly fully confident in their offloading game so the key things for us are to slow down their ruck ball, and stop the ball in the tackle. That will determine, in many ways, how the game will go.

It's possibly fair to say that we haven't produced a complete all-round performance so far but over 80 minutes that's next to impossible at this level because opposing teams are so good and they're going to have some input into the game.

Italy and Scotland were difficult, and it was windy and wet in Edinburgh, but I thought that was a pretty complete performance. At Lansdowne Road conditions usually play a bigger part because games are often destroyed by the wind. So that's why you're rarely going to get a good all-round game there. You usually have to play to your strengths and that's probably why we focus on more of a kicking game.

But this afternoon will be a good indicator of where our all-round game is because it will be a great stadium, with a perfect pitch, and the weather won't have as big an impact. So I think you'll see a good showing from us.

Wales have always tried to play this exciting brand of rugby but maybe teams are standing off them a bit more, and I'm not sure you can beat all teams like that. You look at their game with France, and the French took their foot off the pedal if you ask me.

They had that game and they should have controlled the game a little bit better. Against England, Hodgson missed a few kicks and it was still a one-score game. With regard to France, England, Wales and ourselves, I think any one of us is capable of beating any other on a given day.

Wales obviously have a very high skill level between forwards and backs, but Scotland stood off them for the first half last Sunday and Wales blew them apart. That could happen to us too but we can't afford to stand off them. We've got to get stuck into them and run at them.

Defensively, Wales haven't been perfect. We've got to have a go at them, and that's our intention. I won't be giving away too much but that's the key point: go at them. And it doesn't necessarily have to be wide all the time, we can go at them up front as well.

The occasion should inspire us too. A packed, 80,000-capacity Millennium Stadium, Wales going for their first Grand Slam in over a quarter of a century. These are the occasions you play rugby for, and the prospect of it has lifted the gloom from early in the week.

The thought of what's in store, the atmosphere, the singing - that's exciting. It's brilliant. It's why you put all the sacrifices into the game, to perform on stages like this. It's easy to do it at home; it shows what a player you are when you do it away from home.

Winning by 13 points isn't really on the agenda going into the match. A few of us have been in a situation like this before with Munster against Gloucester. We were nervous enough about winning, never mind overhauling them by 27 points, and that's what set the tone for us, we were so focused on just performing.

There was an intensity to our game that day, so much so that the scoreline didn't matter. We enjoyed it. But this weekend we just want to win.

Last season we lost only one match, to France, and we celebrated when we won the Triple Crown. This week the Triple Crown has hardly been mentioned. Standards have moved on and fair play to all those involved in making that happen. But if you're winning four games out of five in the Six Nations, that's pretty impressive.

The winner takes it all really today. It would have been a real downer to end the season on a losing note last week. Instead we have one more shot at it. It's our last game of the season, our chance to remind people what a good team we are.

(In an interview with Gerry Thornley)